The Los Angeles Rams came into the 2026 season as clear Super Bowl favorites after adding Myles Garrett, Aaron Donald and Trent McDuffie this summer, but they have not looked the part so far. Los Angeles is off to just a 2-2 start and has been extremely shaky on both sides of the ball at times.
LA got nothing going in its opening game, a 27-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers down in Australia, before rebounding to beat the Giants in Week 2. The offense especially has been extremely choppy in Weeks 3 and 4 against the Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles, which is an unexpected turn after Matthew Stafford won the MVP last season.
Now, the Rams have little room for error heading into a Week 5 tilt against the Buffalo Bills. The Bills have been a little bit sloppy as well over the last few weeks, but Buffalo still has arguably the best quarterback in the NFL in Josh Allen and is still one of the Super Bowl favorites in the AFC.
Despite that, the Rams should be able to get their offense going on Monday Night Football against a Bills defense that has shown some weakness so far this year. Let's get into where the Rams should attack.
Rams should have plenty of answers against the Bills
The Bills kept Joe Brady around this offseason after promoting him to be the new head coach in Buffalo, so it's no surprise that the offense still looks good. The biggest question coming into the season was about the Bills' defense after firing Sean McDermott and replacing him with new defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard.
In some ways, there have been some encouraging signs for the Bills on defense. Greg Rousseau has taken a major leap this season and led the NFL in sacks through four weeks with six. However, the overall numbers for this Buffalo unit have not been good.
The Bills rank in the bottom 10 in the NFL in EPA per play allowed both against the run and the pass. While Buffalo has played a pretty good crop of opposing offenses, including the Patriots and the Lions, it has been relatively easy for opposing offenses to move the ball both on the ground and through the air.
On the other side, the Rams are just around the league average in a lot of those categories, which is a stunning disappointment given the expectations that were placed on them coming into the season. However, Sean McVay and company have been managing an injury to Puka Nacua that lingered throughout training camp and into the regular season, and tight end Terrance Ferguson also went down with an ankle injury in Week 3.
Still, the core of Stafford, Davante Adams and Nacua, now that he is back on the field, is too good to remain around the middle of the pack on offense when they get into a rhythm. The Rams also have a lot of room to grow in the running game with both Kyren Williams and Blake Corum running the ball, so this should be a good matchup for Los Angeles to get the ball moving.
Bills' injuries should allow Rams to thrive
Even when healthy this year, the Bills have struggled to get very many stops on defense. Now, they have a number of injuries to deal with on defense. Star defensive tackle Ed Oliver is working through a knee injury and won't play on Monday night. Standout cornerback Christian Benford, who missed Week 4 with a toe injury, was limited at practice all week and his status for Monday night is still up in the air.
Dee Alford, who would be one of the replacements for Benford if he doesn't play, is also questionable.
Not having Oliver in the lineup is a big loss against the Rams' duo-heavy running hame. The downhill attack that McVay has leaned into more and more over the last few years is predicted on getting solid double teams on the interior, and now the Bills are playing without one of their best players to counter exactly that. Expect the Rams to try to run on the interior early and often as a result.
At cornerback, the loss of Benford and its importance in this game needs no explanation. The Rams put cornerback in conflict more than almost any other team in football with the way that they move their receivers around, but the red zone is where Benford will really be missed. While Puka Nacua likes to move around the formation a lot and play on the inside, making it hard to shadow him with a cornerback, Davante Adams is the go-to red zone target and is almost always on the outside of the formation.
If Benford is indeed unable to go, expect rookie Davison Igbinosun to play opposite Maxwell Hairston on the outside. Both of this matchups are ones that McVay and Stafford won't hesitate to target, just as other teams have over the first four weeks. That should allow this Rams offense to get going and have some success on Monday night.